Rapid Travel Chai

The winner of the scrubba, drawn by random number 1-27, is 14, Jane, who wrote:

I usually launder in a hotel room. I then lay my clothes on a towel and roll the towel up to help get rid of the excess water. I put my damp clothes over a towel rack and hope they dry the next morning.

I woud love to win this scrubba.

Additionally, I am awarding inflatable coat hangers to Bruce Rabin, SSM, and Jordan.

Bruce wrote:

More than a decade ago I was invited to give lectures at several universities in Japan. When I arrived at my high-end hotel in Tokyo I discovered a very visible stain on my suit. Although I rarely use hotel cleaners I sent this for 24 hour cleaning and by the end of the day, returned to me was a beautifully laundered party dress. I should add that I was not traveling with my wife. I pointed out the error to the concierge who insisted by showing me the laundry ticket that indeed I had given them a party dress and not a suit to be cleaned. When I try to make light of this by mentioning that this dress was not even my size I don’t think they understood. I finally left them the dress and I went out and bought an inexpensive sport jacket.
Several days later I checked out of the hotel, left my bags at the desk, gave my last lectures and then returned to pick up my bags and head to the airport. They were happy to tell me they had not charged for my laundry.
When I arrived home I opened my bag to find on top a folded and laundered party dress. Fortunately my wife has a good sense humor. I hope that the husband of the owner of the dress also had a sense of humor.

SSM wrote:

While visiting Mumbai with 5 family members almost two years ago, we were traveling with about 2 weeks worth of dirty clothes each. We gave our clothes to the hotel to have them washed. They were returned promptly, fresh n’ clean. Only problem, they ironed cloth barcode tags on every piece of laundry for 6 people. Get all 6 of us back together, and one of us is bound to have barcoded socks or underwear!

Jordan wrote:

I’ve got two.

The first was in Bangkok: My hotel charged exuberant rates for laundry. (Well, exuberant for Bangkok. Dirt cheap for the rest of the world. I guess it’s all relative in Thailand.) I was determined to get it done more cheaply so just tok a small bag of clothes with me that day as I set out to wander the city. I found a place advertising laundry services, left my things, and was told to come back the next evening. Well the next evening as I went to go find the place, I realized I had no idea where it was. It took me at least two frustrating hours of trying to retrace my steps around Sukhumvit before I found the place. I finally did, and clothes were freshly cleaned, though leaving them at the hotel would have been much easier.

A second time in Lisbon I left my clothes on either a Friday or Saturday at a laundromat just around the corner from the hostel at which I was staying. Sunday night I had an overnight bus to Sevilla, so I went to pick up my clothes that afternoon. Turns out the laundromat was closed on Sundays. It says this in very small print on their window. However the most frustrating part was seeing my laundry bag with my name on in sitting inside on a counter behind the glass and gated windows. I was tempted to break in but decided it best not. I had to stay an extra night in Lisbon, lost a nonrefundable bus ticket and lost my first night of accommodation in Sevilla just for some clean socks and underwear. Oy…

If I don’t win, the scrubba will definitely be on my Christmas list!